PREFACE 



THE following pages take up the story of the English 

 House at the point to which it was carried in my former 

 work on Early Renaissance Architecture in England, 

 and carry it to the beginning of the nineteenth century. 

 Between them the two books present the history of 

 domestic architecture from the time when houses were 

 becoming homes instead of fortresses, until a period well 

 within the recollection of our grandfathers. 



During the three centuries thus covered, houses were 

 built and decorated in successive styles, which were uni- 

 versally accepted at the time. The prevailing character 

 of these styles was derived from classic sources, as 

 distinguished from our native Gothic traditions, and it 

 owed its origin to the Renaissance style of Italy. The 

 earlier efforts towards the change are visible in the 

 work of the sixteenth century and of the first quarter 

 of the seventeenth. 



With the advent of Inigo Jones, however, a further 

 impulse was given to the desire for a classic treatment 

 of architecture ; and it is this impulse and its con- 

 sequences which form the basis of the present inquiry. 



There are two views as to English architecture of 

 the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. On the one 

 hand, it is held that in the days of Elizabeth architectural 

 design shows a freshness, vivacity, and originality which 

 express the genius of the time, and result in a truly 

 national style, albeit one which never quite fulfilled its 

 promise ; and that in later periods designers became 

 more and more imitative, and thereby lost from their 



